There are more than 5,500 registered hospitals and approximately 620,000 health and life insurance providers, according to the American Hospital Association and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, respectively. With those numbers, the medical industry is prone to a security breach. Through various seminars and presentations, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's conference will educate attendees on how to protect their programs from hackers.
Valuable patient information
In 2015, two cyberattacks were announced on health insurance companies Premera and Anthem. The intrusions compromised 11 million and 80 million people, respectively, according to Healthcare Finance News. That does not include the 4.5 million patients from Community Health Systems, Inc. from April of last year. Approximately 63 percent of health care organizations experienced a cyberattack in the past two years, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They lost an average of $2.4 million per breach.
During attacks, hackers search for personal information, and medical equipment and health care organizations are easy targets, the FBI reported. Compared to the financial and retail industries, the medical field's security systems are not hard to bypass, the source explained. With patient information, hackers can steal a person's identity. Financial data allows them to purchase a few things, but a complete record of private information, from a Social Security number to birth date, permits hackers to use a victim's identity longer, CIO explained.
HIMSS15 on cyberattacks
The Cybersecurity Command Center is new to this year's HIMSS conference and includes 27 different sessions. Attendees will learn about various topics in health care security, from planning for data breaches to understanding how their EHR software and medical imaging equipment are at risk.
Conference participants have the option of attending sessions such as:
- "An Enterprise Risk Management Check List": Covered entities, business associates and experts will discuss strategies for protecting against cyberattacks without interrupting workflows or productivity.
- "Protect your ePHI and Payment Data from Hackers": Participants will learn how to secure their medical billing software and protected health information using cost-effective strategies.
- "BudgetHack – 5 Keys to Effectively Prioritize Your Security Budget": The director and managing director of Stroz Friedberg will inform attendees about the most common data breaches while offering them advice on which security programs should be in their budgets.
Without strong security protocols, health care providers cannot keep their information safe from cyberattacks. Vulnerable patient information is at risk and these conference sessions are meant to teach professionals how to protect their companies and members.
Contact Viztek for more information.
Ronny Bachrach
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